Science & Technology

Could the common cold cure cancer ?

By T.K. Randall
April 24, 2012 ·  16 comments

Image Credit: stockxpert The idea isn't a new one, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates is credited with saying "give me the power to create a fever and I shall cure any disease." There have been recorded cases over the last century in which cancer patients have gone in to spontaneous remission after contracting certain viruses, so again we see something not entirely outside the realm of possibility. A cold or the flu isn't the only virus that has "cured" cancer either, one boy in Uganda is believed to have recovered from Burkitt's lymphoma after being exposed to the measles.

How accurate are these claims ? Scientists at one biotechnology firm in Australia believe it's worth investigating. "Even though a lot of the cases seemed anecdotal, there was something in it," said Professor Darren Shafren. "This phenomenon has always been there but with the latest tools and technologies we have, we can match the right virus with the right cancer."[!gad]The idea isn't a new one, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates is credited with saying "give me the power to create a fever and I shall cure any disease." There have been recorded cases over the last century in which cancer patients have gone in to spontaneous remission after contracting certain viruses, so again we see something not entirely outside the realm of possibility. A cold or the flu isn't the only virus that has "cured" cancer either, one boy in Uganda is believed to have recovered from Burkitt's lymphoma after being exposed to the measles.

How accurate are these claims ? Scientists at one biotechnology firm in Australia believe it's worth investigating. "Even though a lot of the cases seemed anecdotal, there was something in it," said Professor Darren Shafren. "This phenomenon has always been there but with the latest tools and technologies we have, we can match the right virus with the right cancer."

Source: Brisbane Times | Comments (16)

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